by A F Kay
“All these years, and I have never seen one of these. It is kind of exciting,” Sift said.
“Hamma, you concentrate on keeping Dummy here alive. I’ll try and figure out a way help.”
Sift’s white Spirit bar slowly climbed as he absorbed the energy from the fire.
“It has Mana and Energy, so it can probably cast some spells,” Ruwen said. “By its entrance, I think it's safe to say it can travel through stone.”
“You can see its stats?” Hamma asked, surprise in her voice.
“A little,” Ruwen said, not wanting to explain how his Cultivation Stage had drastically advanced his Perception.
Hamma handed each of them another blessed cracker and her jar of blessed spring water, refreshing their food buffs.
“Why hasn’t it attacked?” Hamma asked.
“Probably scared of me,” Sift said.
“I’m going with the opposite of that,” Ruwen said.
He knew Sift could handle himself. Ruwen needed to figure out how he could help. Even with Bleed, Backstab, and Judgement, he doubted his attack would harm the creature. He needed to figure out another way to make up some of the level gap.
Opening his Inventory, he searched for anything he could use, or give to Sift. The only things that looked useful were the three lozenges he’d gotten on level four. They did lightning damage and had a stun effect.
But the gems worried Ruwen. He knew Craftsmen used gems to store energy. If this cat had that ability, it would only make things worse for them. Plus, the gems in its body would pass the lightning right into the ground. It probably wouldn’t even damage the cat. He only had three of them. Better to wait until they faced a more suitable monster.
Images of the Hoppers they’d faced came to mind. The one that had attacked Ruwen from behind had embedded itself into the wall. The Hopper probably had a harder shell than normal stalagmites, but Ruwen had a way to fix that, and maybe a method to help Sift, too.
Not wanting to move much for fear it might trigger Sparkle, Ruwen stretched a hand outward and snapped off a stalagmite the size of his hand. It was the thickness of two fingers and felt brittle.
He channeled twenty Energy into Harden, just like he had for the gas. The rock shrank as it condensed, and then it shattered. His Health bar dropped fifteen, and his hands bled.
“I am starting to wonder if you’re one of those weirdos that like to hurt themselves,” Sift said.
“I’m trying to help,” Ruwen said.
“Well, that explains it,” Sift said with a smile.
Sparkle lifted a diamond-encrusted paw and licked it with a garnet tongue. It sounded like glass being rubbed together, and it made Ruwen wince.
Ruwen kept his gaze locked on the large cat as he stretched forward and retrieved another stalagmite. This time he only channeled one Energy per second, and nothing exploded. Not much happened to the stalagmite, either. Slowly he increased the Energy, and at five, the stalagmite stopped condensing. At six, it shook, and Ruwen stopped.
The coarse rock now looked smooth, and Ruwen tapped it against the floor to see if it would break. There was a small change, and although the marble was still soft, it was a bit stronger than before.
“What did you do to that rock?” Hamma asked.
Ruwen held up the now finger-wide needle he had made from the stalagmite. “I transformed this limestone into hardened marble.”
“That is not very practical,” Sift said.
Ruwen ignored Sift and cleared the area around him, collecting more stalagmites and small rocks. He turned them all into marble and stored them in his Void Band. Fifteen pieces in total.
“What are you going to do with those?” Hamma asked.
“I’m going to practice bandball,” Ruwen said with a smile.
Hamma shook her head and then stared at Sparkle. “Does anyone else find it intimidating that Sparkle is just letting us prepare? Like whatever we do won’t matter?”
“A little,” Ruwen admitted.
“Why is Sparkle not guarding the exit?” Sift asked.
“The exit isn’t over there?” Ruwen asked.
Sift shook his head.
“Where’s it at?” Hamma asked.
Sift pointed to a stalagmite ten feet tall near the middle of the right wall. “Behind that.”
Ruwen thought about how valuable the quest had been. Not only in experience, but in loot. Most people would never own, or even see, an item of rare quality. His time here in Blapy had already given him several items and gear that were incredibly valuable, and far beyond what ordinary people acquired.
The Fleeting Tattoo of Grotesqness he’d stolen from Blapy and his Hooded Pacifists Cloak of Wandering both had a quality level of special. The cloak probably because of the immunity from location spells. And he had two items of epic quality in his Inventory: the Portal Chalk of Blood and the Moonstone Ring of Remembrance that contained Sift’s girlfriend’s memories from inside Blapy. Not to mention the book on Harvesting that was legendary.
It wouldn’t surprise him if the quest rewards had another obstacle. He reread the reward portion of the quest.
Reward: Reach the exit room to find an item created just for you. Quality will be based on experience gained.
“I think Sparkle is guarding our quest rewards,” Ruwen said.
“That doesn’t seem fair,” Hamma said.
“Most of the quests I’ve gotten here say receive an item, but this one says find an item,” Ruwen said.
Hamma frowned.
“I think we’re ready,” Ruwen said. “Let’s test our theory. That okay with you, Sift?”
“Do you think it poops gems?” Sift asked.
Ruwen looked at Hamma. “I’m going to take that as a yes.”
Sift stood and rubbed his hands together. “Let’s make some jewelry.”
Ruwen groaned, and Hamma shook her head again.
The shimmering shield appeared around Hamma, and they slowly walked toward the exit, never taking their eyes off of Sparkle. The cat sat and watched them. When they reached the exit, they stopped.
“Can you just use your drag spell to fetch the bags?” Hamma asked. “Then, if things go bad here, we at least have them.”
Ruwen judged the distance between them and Sparkle. It looked to be about fifty feet. “The spell is called Retrieve, and it’s usually a lot more impressive. My baton was too heavy, so it didn’t work quite right. I can try to grab a bag, but if it’s much over ten pounds, it won’t work. There is a minute cooldown, so we’ll have to last that long to get the other bag.”
“We won’t need that long to finish Sparkle,” Sift said.
“Shade’s first rule: assumptions lead to the temple tub,” Ruwen said.
Sift grinned.
“Half the things you two say make no sense,” Hamma said.
“His half,” Sift replied.
“Okay, let’s see what happens,” Ruwen said as he eased forward.
At thirty feet from Sparkle, the cat stood and growled.
“Take your bag first,” Hamma said.
Sift stood on Ruwen’s right and Hamma just behind them. The loot bags were surrounded by the color of the owner’s Class. Ruwen’s loot had a brown aura and Hamma’s the white. He brought the icon for Retrieve into the front of his mind, focused on the leather bag covered in white light, and willed it to his left hand.
Ruwen’s Mana bar dropped by fifty, and Hamma’s bag flew through the air. As soon as it struck his hand, he immediately tossed it behind him, knowing he would get a harsh warning if he held someone else's loot.
Right behind Hamma’s loot bag came Sparkle, who had covered almost the entire distance to them in one leap.
Chapter 35
Sift jumped toward the cat, and Ruwen and Hamma dove to the left. A bright light flashed in the room, and what looked like a rainbow exploded in Ruwen’s vision. He stumbled, and a debuff appeared under his resource bars.
Dazzled: -5 Dexterity, Blinded
/> After a couple of seconds, the debuff disappeared, and Ruwen’s vision returned. Hamma rubbed her eyes, and they both focused on Sift.
Lightning moved through Sparkle, jumping from gem to gem as the cat increased the spell’s power. The lightning arced into the air before twisting back into Sparkle’s body. The gems glowed brightly as the current passed through them, the effect hypnotic in its beauty. Sparkle crackled with dangerous energy, and the air had a sharp, burned smell.
Sift smashed his fist into Sparkle’s leg, and a few diamonds fell to the ground. It didn’t seem to bother the cat, and Sparkle swiped at Sift, but he dodged the head-sized paws.
Every time an arc of lightning struck Sift, his entire body would jerk as it absorbed the energy. This caused Sift’s Spirit bar to increase far faster than when he sat in the fire. Sparkle wasn’t dumb, though, and had noticed the same pattern. The cat waited until a tendril of lightning touched Sift before launching its next attack.
Slowed by the absorption of the lightning, Sift didn’t dodge in time, and the paw struck him on the side, throwing him twenty feet. Sift’s Health bar dropped ten percent.
As soon as Hamma began her heal, Sparkle turned and looked at her. Fear flooded Ruwen as the huge cat tensed to pounce at them. Ruwen stepped partially in front of Hamma, not enough to block her view of the fight, but enough to offer some protection. He raised his arm, the Void Band a black hole the size of his palm. Hamma finished her heal, and Sift’s Health returned to full. Hamma’s Mana dropped almost ten percent.
“Over healed,” Hamma muttered angrily to herself. “I need to wait longer.”
Ruwen pushed one of the hardened marble stalagmites out of his Void Band with twenty Energy. He never saw it leave, but an explosion sounded on the wall behind Sparkle. Ruwen cursed his terrible aim as the cat hesitated, turned to look at the divot in the rock, and then back at Ruwen.
Before it could jump on them, Sift reengaged the cat by kicking the right front leg. Ruwen winced at the sound. Sift flipped backward and rubbed his shin.
“Diamonds are hard,” Sift said.
Ruwen circled away from Hamma, trying to remove Sift from the line of fire. Sparkle focused on Sift, and Ruwen took a second to aim this time, making sure his Void Band was angled exactly perpendicular to his pointing finger. He channeled twenty Energy again, and another hardened stalagmite shot out of his Void Band.
The hardened marble spear struck Sparkle on the rear flank, and diamonds and topaz exploded in a shower of glittering gems. Ruwen wasn’t able to break the gems, but it looked like he could knock them off the cat’s body.
Sparkle turned toward him as he fired a hardened ball of marble. It struck the cat’s right fang and snapped it off. Sparkle roared, and a beam of multicolored light shot out of its mouth and struck Ruwen in the chest.
Ruwen collapsed, and his Health bar pulsed an angry red. He had taken one hundred forty damage in a single attack, leaving him just fifteen Health points. He tried to move but couldn’t, and realized he’d been stunned by the attack. Damage and a stun hardly seemed fair. A Stun icon blinked under his resource bars. He would be mobile again soon.
A green fifty followed a second later by another fifty appeared over his Health bar. Hamma had healed half of Ruwen’s Health, but it had cost her seventy-five Mana, which appeared to be around twenty-five percent of her total. As quickly as the first heal had come, it had probably been the instant Uru’s Hope spell. That would explain the more significant drop in Mana.
The stun wore off, and Ruwen climbed to his feet. Sift had engaged with Sparkle again, and Hamma ran over next to Ruwen.
“This doesn’t look great,” Hamma said.
“That’s the way I feel every time I’m in this place. Thanks for the heals.”
“Sure. Try and avoid the beam of death.”
Ruwen cast Massage on himself and his Mana dropped by thirty. A green two appeared on his Health bar every second, and the icon for Massage counted down from thirty. With the Campfire buff still active, he would be at full Health soon.
Sparkle roared again and shot the beam of light at Sift. Sift dropped to a knee and then quickly stood up.
“Wow, that is dense,” Sift said.
Sift’s Spirit increased as he absorbed the damage and his Spirit bar looked almost ten percent full now. The beam of light hadn’t dropped his Health at all. Ruwen needed to learn how to do that.
Sift jumped forward, but he must have pushed Spirit out his feet because he almost moved too fast to see. This time when he struck Sparkle in the head, the cat swayed for a moment.
The cooldown for Retrieve still had thirty seconds left, so Ruwen moved toward the back of the cavern to grab his loot. Sparkle jumped over Sift and into the wall, disappearing from sight. Ruwen slowed, amazed at the ability. Sift ran toward Ruwen as Sparkle emerged from the back wall. It now stood over Ruwen’s loot bag. Worse, Sparkle used its tail to thread through the drawstrings of the bag and lift it up. Now Ruwen wouldn’t be able to use Retrieve to fetch it.
Even though Sparkle had been facing the other direction, it had still sensed Ruwen’s movement toward the bag. The cat’s only purpose wasn’t to try and kill them, like all the other creatures Ruwen had met here, but to guard the quest loot, and keep Ruwen from collecting it.
Ruwen looked at the cat’s current stats.
Health: 302
Mana: 60
Energy: 211
Sparkle’s Health had dropped ten percent, and its Mana by two-thirds. Ruwen guessed the beam of light probably consumed Mana, and the lightning aura and moving through stone took Energy. Only half the cat’s Energy remained.
“It feels like punching stone,” Sift said.
“Diamonds are harder than stone,” Ruwen said. “Hey, do you see any of the gems it lost? Those are all harder than the marble I’m shooting now.”
“They dissolve into the floor as soon as they touch,” Hamma said.
Ruwen and Sift looked at her.
“What? Who wouldn’t be interested in where fist-sized diamonds landed?” Hamma asked.
“We need a plan,” Sift said.
“What happened to making jewelry?” Ruwen asked.
“Crafting is harder than it looks,” Sift said.
“Even the damage you’ve done hasn’t made much difference. There are more gems under the ones you’ve knocked off,” Hamma said.
“Have you been messing around or actually trying?” Ruwen asked Sift.
“The last bit I was trying,” Sift said.
Ruwen stared at the cat, who stared back. It was like they were right back where they’d started. He wished he had more powerful stone or metal to Harden, then he might be able to make something that would damage Sparkle. Instead, the limestone just exploded from the overload of Energy. Exploded…
Ruwen rubbed his forehead. “I have an idea, but it’s bad and dangerous.”
“That describes all your plans,” Sift said.
“Let’s hear it,” Hamma said.
“If I can get close to it, I might be able to actually do some damage,” Ruwen said.
“It’s covered in diamonds. No offense, but if Step Boy here can’t do much, what can you do?” Hamma asked.
“She scorched you,” Sift said.
“My Harden spell causes things to explode if their structure can’t handle the Energy,” Ruwen said.
“So, your plan is to make it even harder?” Hamma asked.
“See what I mean?” Sift asked.
“That might happen,” Ruwen said. “Honestly, at this point, that wouldn’t matter.”
“What is your plan, exactly?” Hamma asked.
“I want to reach a joint or a foot or something that will impact its ability to move so fast. Then maybe Sift can concentrate on its weak points and take it out,” Ruwen said.
“How are you going to do that?” Sift asked.
“I’m glad you asked. You are going to be a distraction, and I’m going to sneak up from behind,” Ruwen
said.
“But when you went to get your loot, it knew right away. You can’t sneak up on it,” Hamma said.
“I know. That is why I’m going to use my Leap spell,” Ruwen said.
“It’s like you want to die,” Hamma said.
“Listen, I know it’s not the best plan, but do you two have anything better? Or anything at all?” Ruwen asked.
Hamma bit her lip and Sift squinted his eyes in thought.
“I know you’re pretending, Sift,” Ruwen said.
Sift’s face relaxed. “Fine, a dumb plan is better than no plan.”
“Is it?” Hamma asked.
Sparkle stood against the far wall, watching them. The cat lazily moved the loot bag back and forth like a pendulum with its tail.
Sift sprinted to the right side of Sparkle, and the cat turned to face him. Ruwen ran to the left side, and Hamma remained in the middle. Sift attacked Sparkle with a flurry of punches. Many of them landed, but not on any joints or critical places.
Ruwen channeled one Energy to Harden and then channeled four Energy to Leap as he jumped toward Sparkle’s back. He would ramp up the Energy to Harden as soon as he got near the cat. It was too bad he didn’t have Melt. That could have been really effective.
For once, he’d calculated Leap correctly, and would come down right behind Sparkle. He planned to grab the cat’s leg at the joint and channel twenty Energy.
As Ruwen descended, Sparkle stopped swinging the loot bag with its tail and held it to the right side. Without looking backward, Sparkle swung the loot bag like a flail and smashed Ruwen in mid-air. He flew sideways and struck the wall losing thirty Health points.
Ruwen lay there until the Dazed debuff cleared and then pushed himself up. Sift fought the giant cat but didn’t seem to be making any progress. When the lightning slowed him, he would force Spirit out his feet and shoot into the air to avoid Sparkle’s paws.
Hamma must have come to the same conclusion because she cast Heaven’s Wrath, and a lightning bolt arced from the ceiling into Sparkle. Ruwen watched the blue-tinged energy spiraling around a green gem on the back of Sparkle’s neck. After a heartbeat, the spell shot back toward Hamma, striking her shield and throwing her onto her back. Her Light Guardian immediately cast a heal on her.